Joseph W. Howe, D.C., D.A.C.B.R. and the development of modern chiropractic radiology

Abstract

Born in Galeton, Pennsylvania, on 27 May 1930, Joseph W. Howe has been extremely influential raising the educational standards for radiology in chiropractic. After receiving his D.C. from Palmer in 1952, he worked in private practice in Pennsylvania until being drafted into the Army, where he worked as a radiologic technician. After returning to civilian life and his practice, he attended many seminars and lectures on the subject, including one in 1958, taught by Roland Kissinger, D.C. at the National College of Chiropractic (NCC), the first postgraduate course in chiropractic roentgenology ever administered by a college. Howe then took and passed the second exam given by the American Board of Chiropractic Roentgenologists and was awarded certificate number eight in 1959. He helped to form the American Chiropractic College of Radiology and became its first Radiological Health Consultant. In 1968, he joined the Associates Diagnostic and Research Center (ADRC) in Tallmadge, Ohio, where he was able to concentrate on research and establish an off-campus facility for radiology residents of NCC. During this time Howe also lent his expertise to the Houston Conference on Spinal Manipulation. However, financial difficulties with the Center led Howe to leave, and accept a full time position teaching at NCC. Howe ultimately found himself too involved with administrative duties and not enough with the radiology that he loved, so he moved his family across the country in order to accept the radiology department chair at Los Angeles College of Chiropractic (LACC) in 1978. There he was given freedom to build the department to his high standards, and it retains the strongest residency in the profession, with up to six residents at any one time and links to prestigious radiologists like Donald Resnick, M.D. and Steve Rothman, M.D. Officially, Howe retired in 1998, but he still occasionally teaches residents and the Westwood-based radiology practice that he donated to LACC continues, run by the radiology faculty.